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Wolves 2 - 0 Derby: Verdict Thread

The Bear

Euro 2012 PTG Champion
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Vital win. Enthuse away.
 
Disgusted with Sako, he cost me 4 quid with that miss!

Great win, bit worried about TKs handling and we allowed too many long shots.

On the plus side, Dicko was class, kmac was great. Stears was immense again! Impressed with RVLP when he came on as well
 
Fantastic result, on the couch sick and that has cheered me right up, thought Dicko was sublime today, not surprised he was disappointed to go off. First I have seen of Kuz in goal (can't be arsed looking up how to spell it) He looks a decent keeper to me, but he seems to have a case of back up gitters, seems to be thinking one mistake and I will get replaced when Ikeme is fit, rather than just playing. He is slow and ponderous off his line though which I disliked today. Today is the first I have seen of him though.
 
Sorry, posted this on the matchday thread, meant to be in this thread...

Kind of rode our luck there. Really under the cosh 2nd half.
Immense pressure, Derby had nearly all the possession or so it seemed but the fairest result would have been 0-0 but 2 catastrophic mistakes from Derby defenders gave us the 2 goals, they must have had 20 attempts to about 6 of ours (not seen the stats) but just like when we were trying hard and nothing went right, such is the fate to have befallen Derby tonight.
But with a different ref, we might have been down to 10, and maybe 1 down....

Batth and again Stearman were immense tonight. Dicko was terrific, but Jackett was right to bolster the midfield but I think that a lot of the play bypassed Edwards. Van LaParra was very good, added a lot when he came on including a terrific bit of play where he ran about 50 with the ball evading tackles here and there before getting fucked out of it by a frustrated Derby player.

Fantastic 60 yard mazy run in the 94th minute from Sako from near the half way line he just ran and jinked and swerved and jinked and sidestepped his way into the box then with the keeper to beat, and everyone in the ground screaming their nuts off he blazed it over the bar!
Bad Man! Goal of the season if it had gone in.... breath taking!!

Doyle came on and was just fantastic.....
That said, an odd substitution at 91 minutes....?
 
Phew. Massive result. God alone knows what the referee was doing disallowing the derby goal. On the way home and delighted with the result. Pressure on those around us now.
 
3 great points there, they were all over us at times but we had the luck. Dicko was brilliant, as were Stearman and Sako I thought.
 
Got battered somewhat, but came out with a 2 - 0 win. Not going to complain about that.

Feeling a whole lot better than I did at 5pm

Promotion is still possible
 
Got battered somewhat, but came out with a 2 - 0 win. Not going to complain about that.

Feeling a whole lot better than I did at 5pm

Promotion is still possible

Told you they'd make you feel better :) COYW
 
Wonderful, wonderful win and one that puts us right in the mix.

The spine of our team looks as strong as I can remember. We defend well while looking potent in attack and it looks like it might just be coming together at the crucial time.

Tommy K - I think some of the criticism coming his way has been harsh. He is erratic at times but our defensive record is fine with him between the sticks. He's solid enough and a fantastic deputy at this level. 6

Doherty - One slip-up in the first half and a few too many aimless punts downfield but a decent performance overall. 7

Batth - Did well to stop Ince's mazy run in the opening moments and dealt with everything from afterwards. His partnership with Stears has been one of the highlights of the season. 8.

Stearman - MOTM and contender for player of the season. Was instrumental in us stifling Derby during their attacking spells. Virtually unrecognisable from a couple of seasons ago - maybe its the hair. 9.

Golbourne. Every time I've seen this lad he's been class. So assured on the ball and gets up and down that flank remarkably well. 8.

Price. Fairly anonymous in the first half but did a quietly efficient job in the second. 7.

McDonald. Probably the best passer of a ball I've ever seen in a Wolves shirt, I'm struggling to think of anyone better. To quote a well-used cliche; he's our engine. The 70 yard ball he played to release Afobe for his chance was almost beyond words. Fantastic. 8.

Henry - Capable of great things but I think he struggled today and was understandably subbed. His work-rate is impressive though. 6.

Afobe. So what if he didn't score? Always making a nuisance of himself, shows surprising strength for his build and expects to score every time he gets the ball. What a buy. 8.

Sako. He was in the mood tonight. Tracked back admirably and was a constant thorn in Derby's side. A goal after that wonderful, jinking run at the end really would have been the cherry on top. 8.

Dicko. I love this guy. I love how quickly he gets a shot in (compared to past Wolves strikers) and I love how lethal his finishing is. Looked pissed off to be subbed but I can see KJ's thinking. 8.

Subs.

Edwards - didn't do too much but fresh legs helped.

RVLP - Another pain in the arse for Derby and got lucky for the goal, but who cares.

Doyle - last minute sub.

Kenny -Fantastic to hear his post-match interview just now, so calm and analytical. What was that Kipling said about 'keeping your head when all about you are losing theirs'? This could prove crucial for us if we make the play-offs.
 
Woop! Have a bloomin' awful cold, but that has cheered me up too.

Lucky in some respects, obviously, but pleased the way we defended - offered up no clear chances despite being under serious pressure for the majority of that 2nd half. Always love it when Golbourne is back at LB too. So good.
 
Definitely got more than a touch fortunate, that's the best footballing performance I've seen by an away team down here all season, but we took our chances and they didn't take theirs. Stearman was outstanding once again, he really has been superb since he came back into the team. Thank you very much Mr Comedy Goalkeeper for the second goal!

McDonald's passing was top class tonight. Doherty still lets far too much come in from his side but generally did ok. Golbourne makes a massive difference to us, please Ken don't leave him out again unless you have to. Nervy stuff from Kuszczak at times but he kept them out by hook or by crook. Front two will cause anyone in this division a very tough time, you can't push up the park against us any more and there's a real physical threat to go along with the quality and pace.
 
Good performance, with a little luck. Important that after the Brighton game we won our two home games and we've done it, scoring 5 goals and conceding none!

I thought the way we set up was pretty good, we were able to play in the Derby half and apply pressure on them. Towards the end of the first half we looked nervous, defended bravely in general and got lucky with the Batth incident. We played some very good football ourselves, in general this season we have looked to get the ball wide but since the arrival of Afobe we have been able to play through the middle and with mcDonald and Price we have two intelligent passers of the ball who allow us to do so.

Second half, having scored so early we had to deal with a bit of an onslaught, and although we sat too deep we actually dealt with it OK. They didn't have many chances, certainly not clear cut. Good save from Kuszczak that he tipped on to the post that commentator didn't seem to pick up on, slightest of touches to keep it out. Even though he missed it, Afobe having a chance like that on the break made them more cautious with their play and from there we started to relieve some pressure. Both the subs were the right ones, credit to KJ as it worked well Edwards gave us legs in the middle, while van la Parra, who I thought was poor for most of the time he was on, was a useful outlet for his pace. Second goalw as ridiculous but we will take it! From then on I had worries at all, we were fairly comfortable.

Kuszczak - 6 - some good stops, but he makes me nervous with his kicking and his unwillingness to dominate his area.

Doherty - 6 - some good play going forward, good in the air, good tackling higher up the pitch but gets caught out positionally still too often. Needs to improve 1v1 which is a strength of Iorfa's and makes it clear to see the difference
Batth - 6 - lucky not to be sent off, but solid as per and his passing wasn't bad either
Stearman - 7 - another good performance. Throws himself in front of the ball to protect his goal and is a leader at the back
Golbourne - 7 - we are so much better with him in the team! So good on the ball, gets forward well and defensively so safe.

Henry - 6 - did well, worked very hard and links well with the players around him
McDonald - 8 - so enjoyable to watch, another assist, hopefully he can continue this impressive run of form
Price - 7 - allows McDonald to get on the ball more and moves the ball quickly and effectively. Some good crunching tackles too.
Sako - 8 - Excellent. He has been hit and miss lately but he produced a great performance today. Derby defenders found him difficult to defend against

Afobe - 7 - had two chances to score which he was quite unlucky with both. Works well with Dicko too!
Dicko - 8 - Another player coming back into form at a good time for us! Thoroughly deserved his goal, the way he holds onto the ball is brilliant

Subs
Edwards - 6, van la parra- 6, Doyle n/a
 
Only one place to be tonight, the South Bank!, awesome night, Molineux at it's best.
 
Rode our luck and got the breaks that we havent had against a couple of the other top teams ie Bournemouth. Schteve must be tearing what little hair he has out. They deserved more for their play but we defended really well. Good to have Goldbourne back- adds strength there. Puts great pressure on the others around us. Still some strange results to come in this league I think and I confess I didnt see us being this close after the Reading defeat, so fair play to KJ and the team. I rarely get to huffy about away games. For some reason I always look at away wins as a bit of a bonus. Win your home games and take points away with the odd win and that puts you up there,That said Reading aside we have been strong at Home in 2015. Kudos to the crowd too as they are getting noisier!
 
Well we rode our luck in defence tonight. Some massive last ditch defending in the second half from the entire back five.

Ref was spot on in his decision not to give a red, but then stops the game and doesn't even book Batth which he should have done. Either that or let the game go on and Derby are 1-0 up.

We could easily have score four goals tonight with the Afobe and Sako chances. Another win and clean sheet keeps up our terrific momentum though.

Ratings:

Kuszczak - Had plenty to do and wobbled a few times with his handling. Ikeme will go back in once fit IMO - 6

Golbourne - Steady game both at the back and going forward. Coped well with most things down his side - 7

Doherty - Decent game albeit with a bad mistake in the first half misjudging a high ball out wide. Overlapped well as always - 6

Batth - Solid performance. Under pressure plenty but held his lines well - 7

Stears - Same as Batth but also brought the ball out well regularly - 8

Henry - Good on the ball but couldn't find a key pass. Subbed correctly all things considered - 6

Sako - Saw plenty of the ball and had a good but not great game. Did some good defensive work too. Should have buried his chance at the end but as usual tried to hit it too hard! - 6

Price - Usual possession based game. I felt he could have sat a bit deeper though to try and stop Derby getting the ball between our lines so easily - 6

McDonald - Some great passing once again. Another assist (that's 10 now) and could have had more. The pass over the top to Afobe was especially nice - 8 MOTM

Afobe - Rotated the deeper role with Dicko and did well both holding the ball and getting forward for chances. Should have got a goal - 7

Dicko - Ran the channels as he always does. Switched with Afobe at times which gave Derby problems in who to pick up. Took his goal really well and was unfortunate to be the sacrificial lamb to shore up our midfield - 7

Subs:

Edwards - Came on to do a specific job and it worked a treat. Got in Derby's faces in midfield and stopped them playing through us so easily - 7

Van La Parra - Was another out ball for us and ran at their LB nicely on a few occasions - 7

Doyle - Errrrrr. Was on the pitch but I didn't notice him - ???
 
did they really have 61% of the ball? Sometimes the stats do not seem right

Hate to say this but I want Millwall to win 2-0 and Watford to win tomorrow. Am I being greedy?
 
Would give VLP a 7 as he occupied there left flank for a large time he was on.

Stearman was, however , immense tonight In getting his body in the way - MOTM for me
 
did they really have 61% of the ball? Sometimes the stats do not seem right

Sounds about right, it was around 50-50 at half time and then they had 20 minutes after the first goal where we hardly had a kick. A lot of possession that didn't really go anywhere though. They miss Martin a lot, Bent didn't have a dreadful game by any means but he offers absolutely nothing in general play. When Martin plays those three attacking midfielders play off him and cause havoc.
 
Would give VLP a 7 as he occupied there left flank for a large time he was on.

Stearman was, however , immense tonight In getting his body in the way - MOTM for me

I am his harshest critic but cant argue with his form in 2015. He is prone to the odd mistake but boy does he put everything on the line for the cause. Fair candidate for POY for me.
 
What a great start to the weekend. Wolves show me they can play with the big boys in this division and win 2-0. Think I'll have a drink. ;)

Loads of rugby on tomorrow with a great finish to the 6 Nations. Think I'll have another drink. ;)

Sunday is my Birthday and my family are giving me a 'surprise' party. Think I'll have several drinks ;) ;)
 
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